In the field of toy, pillow and cushion stuffing, many have preferred to employ solid foam or resinated cut polyester materials. The reason for this preference is that the solid foam materials are uniform, and will provide a toy, pillow and cushion free from lumps and irregularities. The foam or resinated cut polyster systems have several drawbacks, however, which limit their use. In the first instance, solid foam materials must be prefoamed and cut to a given size and shape. If more than one cushion or pillow size and shape is in production, the problems of controlling ordering, shipping and inventory become complex and costly. Such systems require large warehouse and inventory space for storing these materials. In addition, not every buyer prefers foam-filled articles, because they are stiffer and generally less supple than most fiber-filled items.
In recent times, the furniture and bedding industry has utilized a blown fiber system wherein synthetic fibers are injected into pillows and cushions by means of a forced duct-fed air stream. Such a system has many advantages, such as reduced manufacturing and inventory costs. Pillows and cushions filled by this process tend to have a softer, more appealing feel, and are generally more comfortable. Manufacturing production rates are high and storage space for the material is low.
A fiber blown system that is presently commercially available, generally comprises a hopper wherein dense fiber mats or bales are picked apart and then garnetted. The separated fibers are then introduced into a delivery duct that terminates in a filling nozzle for stuffing the fibers into pillows, toys, and furniture cushion casings. This system has high power and maintenance requirements. Many times there is a lack of uniform stuffing densities between different runs and different batches. The custom-made machinery is costly and takes a large amount of factory space.
Recently, a fiber blowing technique using an aero-stream has become a viable manufacturing procedure for stuffing pillows and cushions. In this system, however, only a limited range of materials can be used. Materials having a fiber length greater than approximately one and one-half inches do not work well, and generally cannot be stuffed efficiently.
The present invention uses a new technique, wherein the fiber material is aerated and fluffed before entering the delivery air-stream. The inventive system will generally utilize less material for each run, because the fiber is aerated and fluffed into a uniform billow.
The inventive fiber filling system comprises a fiber and air circulation chamber, wherein the fiber materials are aerated and fluffed in a cyclonic flow path. This cyclonic flow provides sufficient fluffing and aerating of the fiber materials, such that fibers in a wide range of densities, deniers and fiber lengths can be processed. As such, the aero-stream fiber filling system of this invention has a universality that the prior custom-made machines cannot provide.
The invention is also more structurally compact and less costly than the prior systems. In addition, many parts have been eliminated, such as the metallic worker stripper, doffer, and main cylinder rolls, etc. Various sleeve bearings and shafts requiring constant lubrication have also been eliminated. Also, because the cyclonic flow is very uniform and rapid, a high production rate is achieved as well as a uniform billow density.